My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 514, Section 511: The Second Project

"What exactly did you hear?"

In the living room of the Hog's Head pub, after returning from the second floor, Harry had been lying on the table in a daze, which puzzled Ron, who asked him a question.

Harry frowned before repeating Karkaroff and the mysterious man in black's words to Ron and Hermione from beginning to end.

Ron listened blankly, unable to discern anything amiss.

"They're talking in a very unclear way, what are they even saying?"

Hermione stared at Ron with a serious expression.

"Have you forgotten what you told me last time about the conversation you overheard between Snape, Karkaroff, and Moody? What was Karkaroff's former identity?"

"You mean the Death Eaters? Is their conversation related to that?"

Harry had already realized it.

"The man in black robes was trying to persuade Karkaroff to pledge allegiance to someone again. He said that person had returned, and after what happened last year, his men were either dead or imprisoned in Azkaban. Even if Karkaroff had betrayed him, he could forgive him. So who else could it be?"

Harry looked at Ron, who glanced at Harry and then turned his gaze to Hermione, his eyes gradually turning to terror.

"The person you're talking about, could it be the mysterious man?"

"Or what?"

"But didn't you say that Lynn had already captured the mysterious man and that he wouldn't be showing his face outside anymore?"

"But Lynn also said that the mysterious man's soul was divided into many pieces and made into Horcruxes, and there are still Horcruxes out there."

Upon hearing this, Ron shuddered.

"So you mean the mysterious man is really coming back?"

"That's possible, but maybe someone is lying to Karkaroff." Harry didn't really want to voice that guess; he made a self-deceptive assumption.

But no matter what they thought, they had already heard about what happened, and it was clearly something they couldn't handle; this matter had to be reported.

Harry and Ron originally intended to report the matter directly to Dumbledore upon returning to school, but Hermione chose to report it directly to Professor Fawkes, who was in Hogsmeade.

"Is Professor Fox trustworthy?" Ron asked skeptically. "It's not that I don't trust him, but we need to be cautious at this time. What if Professor Fox and Karkaroff are also in cahoots?"

Hermione interrupted him.

"They couldn't possibly be in cahoots. Lynn told me about the relationship between Professor Fox and Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Fox is very trustworthy."

Since Hermione had said so, Harry and the other two hurriedly left the Hog's Head and found Fawkes wandering around the town.

They chattered on about the conversation they had overheard in the bar, and when Fox finished telling it, Fox frowned deeply.

"It's excellent that you've discovered this information; it may be very important. I will inform Dumbledore immediately."

He then looked seriously at Harry, Ron, and Hermione: "But I must also warn you that if something like this happens again, you must report it to an adult you trust nearby immediately, rather than putting yourselves in danger."

Harry and his classmates' fourth-year moral education practice class ended two hours earlier than planned.

After hurriedly leading the group of young wizards back to Hogwarts Castle, Fox quickly headed towards Dumbledore's office.

Not long after he went in, Lynn also received a message from the portrait and came to the principal's office.

The three talked for about three hours before ending the conversation. Fox and Lynn left the principal's office together, their faces expressionless.

Afterwards, Lynn specifically asked Hermione to warn Harry and Ron not to spread what they had heard, and the matter was treated as if it had never happened, and Hogwarts remained peaceful.

But the apparent calm only temporarily conceals the turbulent undercurrents beneath.

As time went on, the second competition of the newly prepared Triwizard Tournament officially began.

This time, the kidnapping tactic was abandoned, and the rules for the competition were directly established.

The game is set in the Black Lake at Hogwarts. Whoever can retrieve the pearl guarded by the merfolk living in the Black Lake in the shortest time will get the highest score.

The question of how the four brave men, who lack the ability to breathe underwater, will reach the bottom of the lake will test their own magical abilities and skills.

Getting to the bottom of the lake was naturally not a problem for the most outstanding students from these four magic academies.

Krum used a Transfiguration Charm to partially transform his head into a shark's head, allowing him to breathe underwater.

Fleur and Aniston both used the head-bubble spell to create an oxygen-breathing area around their heads before going into the water together.

Lynn seemed to have made no preparations whatsoever. He didn't use the Transfiguration Charm or the Bubble Head Charm. Instead, he took a deep breath in front of everyone on the shore and then jumped into the water.

No one could see what was happening at the bottom of Black Lake, so the young wizards could only wait on the shore and watch to see which warrior would be the first to swim to the surface.

Just as they were waiting expectantly, less than half an hour later, a figure gradually emerged from the bottom of the lake, his face turning blue from lack of oxygen as he walked up.

It was Hibiscus. Before she could find the merfolk guarding the pearl at the bottom of the lake, she was entangled by a group of magical creatures living in the lake, Greenlodi.

In the end, her head-bubbling spell failed, and she had no choice but to return to shore.

However, this does not mean that her competition is over.

The competition is simply about who can bring the pearl back to shore first; there are no other restrictions.

So Hibiscus used the Bubble Head Spell on herself again and dived back into the Black Lake.

Just as she was about to dive into the lake, a burst of water suddenly appeared in the lake, and Lynn jumped out from it.

Several ugly-looking fishmen carrying harpoons followed behind him.

Seeing Lynn emerge from the water, the fishmen had no choice but to surface, glare at him fiercely, and then dive back into the water to guard their camp.

At the same time, Lynn, who had just come ashore, loosened her clenched fist, revealing a huge pearl lying inside.

He won the match decisively and cleanly, without even using any magic.

As cheers erupted from the surrounding young wizards, the judge's expression was completely different from a few days ago in the face of this result.

(End of this chapter)